Earlier this year I was fortunate enough to meet and work with Kevin Reed in his studio. I had been linked of facebook (hooray social media) by a friend of mine when he was seeking artists for a set piece. I responded and sent over my link and although what he needed was different from what I usually create, he was confident in my abilities. So about a day or two later I met him and set to work. I had created a rough sketch which the client had approved, so simply started to build out my area with tape and get to work.

Some of the varied sketches:

Starting off:

Kevin had recently acquired two kittens, a brother and sister who I called Brooke and Brad, whose names were actually Brooklyn and Bradford. For the vast majority of the time I was working, they were sleeping on my bags, supplies, or in some cases, on my assistant Colleen when she came in to help me finish on the last day.

Kittens sleeping:

Unfortunately the project was on a very limited timeframe, which meant I needed to get cranking on the set in order to have it done in time for the shoot. So, over the course of what i believe was three days straight, I stayed in Kevin’s studio working constantly, with breaks here and there to stuff food in my face. (note: if you ever need to stay awake for extended lengths of time, you need to eat, your body goes into overdrive and needs the calories to keep you functional)

Kevin and his fiance Polina (now his lovely wife) were super sweet and great to work with. Both kept offering me tea and water, as well as offering conversation while I was working. All of which helped. By the end of day two I realized that I was going to need some help to push through the last of it, which is when I had Colleen show up at the studio to help move things along.

The process I was using was tracing paper drawings of the scroll-work, backed with a graphite rubbed piece of paper, and then tracing the scroll-work onto the wall, which kept everything uniform and neat. then going through with grey and silver paint to build a little depth, and some faint black and white in the appropriate spots to kick it a bit. The idea was for something intricate and simple at the same time that wouldn’t detract from the models and the evening wear.

At work:

Fortunately with Colleen’s help, and Kevin and Polina’s tea, coffee, and chocolates (oh the chocolate, soo good), we managed to pull it together. Colleen wound up there for somewhere around 24 hours herself, I was at something like 60-70 of straight working, but it came out great.

Nearly there:

I did end up coming back the next day to revise the mirror at the client’s request, they felt it was going to be a distraction the way I had tried to paint it as a patina/reflection. Wasn’t a big fix, and they were happy after, so all went well.

Only recently saw the big payoff of beautiful women posing in front of the walls which I’d created, and must say, it’s a perk of the job. Definitely looking forward to working with Kevin again in the future, as well as Colleen as she really helped me pull this off. Thanks to everyone, and here’s some samples from the shoot for your enjoyment.